Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Climb 7% – Here’s What Happened

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)’s stock price was up 7% on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $77.28 and last traded at $76.95. 9,346,114 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 10% from the average session volume of 10,397,127 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAOI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.00.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 7.0%

The stock has a market cap of $6.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -98.65 and a beta of 3.85. The business’s 50 day moving average is $103.36 and its 200-day moving average is $111.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.13 and a current ratio of 2.78.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.04. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 1.98% and a negative net margin of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $191.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.16) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 86.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.110-0.260 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Shu-Hua Yeh sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total transaction of $720,180.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 371,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,590,904.94. The trade was a 1.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.87, for a total transaction of $411,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 363,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,359,092.16. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,887 shares of company stock valued at $6,581,484. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAOI. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $955,672,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter valued at about $74,703,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the first quarter valued at about $47,817,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,712,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,567,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.70% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Optoelectronics

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc (NASDAQ: AAOI) develops and manufactures fiber-optic networking products and solutions. Its offerings include optical transceivers, transmitters, receivers, lasers, and related components used to transmit data across fiber-optic networks.

The company serves several communications markets, including data centers, broadband access networks, cable television, and telecommunications. Its products are designed for applications such as high-speed data transmission, fiber-to-the-home and other broadband deployments, network connectivity, and communications infrastructure.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, Applied Optoelectronics supports customers in multiple regions, including North America, Asia, and other international markets.